Piling machine for sheet-like materials



April 1961 K. L. B. JOHANSON 2,981,420

FILING MACHINE FOR SHEET-LIKE MATERIALS Filed July 9, 1957 Fig.1

INVENTOR KARI. L. B JOlI/INJDA/ BY DAM 74x4 32 4} ATTbRNEYS United States Patent PILING MACHINE FOR SHEET-LIKE MATERIALS Karl L. B. Johanson, Jonkoping, Sweden, assignor to t Sven Leijonmarck, Norrahammar, Sweden Filed July 9, 1957, Ser. No. 670,751

8 Claims. 01. 214--6) This invention relates to machines for piling sheets of material, such as corrugated board, to form a stack of the sheets; The invention has particular reference to an improved machine of this character which is of simple construction, is largely or entirely automatic in operation, and'is adapted for stacking sheets of different size without requiring adjustment to accommodate the different sizes. While the machine of the present invention may be used for stacking sheets of different kinds, it may be used to particular advantage for stacking corrugated board. Corrugated board is prepared in the form of a long web which, in cases where the desired material is to be in sheet form, is cut into sheets to be joined into gatherings of ten to thirty sheets layed upon one another and is removed from the corrugated board machine by means of a band conveyor. The new machine is adapted to pile these gatherings. It is also adapted to turn over every second gathering, as the sheets emerging from the corrugated board machine are not entirely dried and are therefore easily bent or warped. By turning every second gathering from the corrugated board machine, the sheets are made to assume a fiat or plane shape in the pile or stack-which is d'esired not only from the standpoint of e individual sheets but also to give stability to the stack of sheets. A machine made according to the invention comprises a carriage for supporting a sheet of the material and which is reciprocated between a retracted position and a sheet' stacking position. This reciprocation of the carriage may-be effected by any suitable mechanism, such as api'ston. A stop is engageable with a sheet on the carriage in its sheetstacking position, so as to retain the sheet against return movement with the carriage to its retracted position. Thus, each sheet moved with the carri'age to its stacking position is removed from the carriage and deposited upon thestack upon return of the carriage to its retracted position. The carriage may be movableon a pair of rails, and in one form of the invention therails are movable vertically by a suitable actuator so that the sheet on the carriage can be lowered on the stack where it is engageable with the stop to allow retractionof the carriage without removing the sheet from the stack. Preferably, a stack support underlies the carriage in its stacking position, and this support is mounted for vertical movement-relative to the carriage. Thus, the stack support can he lowered each time the carriage is reciprocated, to provide-a constant level of-the top of the stack relative to the carriage.

In one form of the'invention, a conveying way is pro vided for supporting the sheet independently of the carriage in its retracted position, and a stop on the carri'age is engageable with a sheet on'the way for moving the sheet along the way and onto the carriage during movement of the carriage to its stacking position. In

this form of the invention, the carriage preferably includes a' fork underlying the sheet on the conveying way ice and onto which the sheet is deposited from the way during movement of the carriage to its stacking position.

A further feature of the invention resides in an arrangement by which every second sheet delivered to the machine is turned over and deposited with another sheet in superimposed relation on a supporting means, which may be the aforementioned conveying way or a part of the carriage itself. This arrangement includes a trough located adjacent the supporting means and adapted to receive a pair of sheets, and means for actuating the trough to deposit the sheets therein on the supporting means in superimposed relation. The trough has arr'ns pivotally mounted on the opposite sides of the trough. and adapted for sliding support of a sheet on each side.

of the trough. These arms are operatively connected to means for swinging them upwardly on the trough to deposit the sheets on edge in the trough, whereupon the trough is swung by its actuating means on a pivot adjacent the supporting means, so that the sheets are deposited from the trough in superimposed relation on the supporting means. Preferably, the trough is inclined longitudinally and has a stop at its lower end, and a vibrator is operatively connected to the trough for causing the sheets therein to slide against this stop, so as to properly align the gatherings.

These and other features of the invention will be better understood by reference to the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a preferred form of the new machine, with parts broken away forillustrative purposes; r

Fig. 2 is an enlarged side elevational view of the trough and its associated mechanism shown in Fig. 1, and

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view of the trough, showing its inclined position and the vibrator.

' Referring to the drawing, the machine there shown comprises a frame having uprights 50 supporting longi- "tudinal members 51, the uprights and longitudinal members being arranged in opposed relation. A carriage 2 is adapted to reciprocate horizontally along a track comprising'a pair of opposed rails 1 and 1a, the carriage having wheels 2a resting on the rails. As shown in Fig. l, the carriage 2 has vertical members 2b on one end which support a plurality of fork shanks 4 extending in parallel relation lengthwise of the rails 1-111 and the longitudinal frame members 51. The longitudinal members 51 support a number of transverserollers 3'forming a conveying way. The plane of transport formed by the rollers 3 is located slightly above the fork shanks 4, which extend between rows of these rollers.

When the carriage 2 is moved forward (to the left) from its retracted position shown in Fig. l, the carriage fork 4 is advanced over a pile support 5 .which is mounted for vertical movement relative to the carriage and is provided with arolling way 6. In Fig. l, I have shown three pairs of gatherings or sheets 7 on therolling way 3, which sheets, in the form and arrangement shown, are to be transferred to the top of a partly formed pile 8 resting on the support 5. The carriage 2 is reciprocated on its track 1-112 by a suitable mechanism which, as illustrated, comprises a hydraulic or pneumatic piston 9, the rod of which is connected to the vertical members 2b of the carriage. It will be understood that the piston 9 includes the usual cylinder connected to a source, of pressure fluid (not shown), so that the piston rod is advanced or retracted to reciprocate the carriage by admitting the pressure fiuid to the cylinder at one side .or the other of the piston therein. Mounted vertically onthe carriag. Z b etvveen its vertical members 212 is another piston "Ill operatively connected to a stop 11 at the rear end of the fork-4. The piston 10, likewise connected to h fluid pressure source (not shown), is adapted to raise stop 11 to the position shown in Fig. 1, whereby forward movement of carriage 2 causes the gatherings 7 to be moved along the rolling way 3 by the stop 11 and deposited on the fork 4 over the pile '8. Adjacent the pile 8 is a vertically movable piston 12 mounted on the machine frame and operatively connected to a stop 13-. Upon forward movement of the carriage 2 to its stacking position over the support 5, the'piston 12 is operated to raise stop 13, so that the gatherings 7 on the carriage fork 4 are retained against return movement with the carriage to its retracted position. Thus, the stop 13 causes the gatherings 7 to slide off the fork 4 and on to the stack 8, as the carriage 2 is returned to its retracted position, whereupon the stop 13 is lowered by operation of its piston 12. To keep the pile together, a binding sheet 14 may be placed on top of the gather- ,ings 7, preferably while they are still on the rolling way 3.

The pile support 5 is movable vertically between-a pair of'opposed uprights or posts 15. As shown in Fig. 1, each upright 15 is channel-shaped to receive a guide or .bearing member 5a secured to the adjacent side of the .support 5. A chain or rope 5b is connected at one end to one of the guide members 5a from which it extends upwardly over a pulley 15a, the opposite end of the chain or rope 5b being connected to a piston 15b. Thus, the pile support 5 is supported vertically by the piston 15b through the chain or rope 5b, so that operation of the piston 15b in one direction serves to lower the support 5 .while operation of this piston in the opposite direction acts to raise the support 5. The pile support 5 is guided laterally in its vertical movements by means of the channeled uprights 15 which receive the adjacent guide memfibers 5a. A feeler 16 is pivotally mounted at one end on the machine frame and rests at its free end on the top of the sheet stack 8. This feeler 16 may be provided with a suitable connection (not shown) to the control for the ,piston 15b, so that the latter is automatically operated to lower the pile support 5 acertain distance each time a s -new series of sheets 7 is transferred to the top of the pile 8. In other words, whenever a new series of sheets 7 is moved to the top of the pile 8, by operation of the carriage 2, the resulting upward movement of the free end of feeler '16 will cause the piston 15b to lower the pile ,support 5 a distance corresponding to the thickness of the new series of sheets on the stack. In this way, the top of the stack is maintained at the proper level to receive the next series of sheets from the carriage 2. Alterna- ,tively, the piston 15b may be operated manually to con- .trol the level of the top of the stack 8, or any other suit- ;able means may be arranged for controlling this level. As the details of the mechanism for controlling the vertical position of the pile support 5 do not in themselves form any part of the present invention, it is unnecessary material can be pushed from the support 5 onto the rolling way 18, whereupon the support 5 can be raised to its uppermost position for repeating the piling operation. The pile 8 may be pushed from the support 5 to the rolling way 18 by means of a piston 19. As an alternative, the rolling way 6 on the pile support 5 may be omitted and a common pallet placed on the support 5, the pallet (not shown) being removed from the lowered support 5 by a fork truck when the piling is completed. In this case, the rolling way 18 as well as the piston 19 may also be omitted.

front of the trough 20; and as the gatherings are delivered to the rolling way 23 the operator arranges them in pairs on either side of the trough 20. At the same time, the operator can sort out any defective gatherings or sheets.

The function of the trough 20 is to turn every second gathering and deliver the gatherings, laid together in pairs as shown in Fig. l, on the rolling way 3 adjacent the trough 20. For this purpose, a piston 24 is connected to one end of the trough 20 (Fig. 2), the piston rod 25 being connected through links 26 to hell cranks 27 having arms 28. The bell cranks 27 are pivotally connected to the opposite sides of the trough 20, as by means of pivot pins 31 and 31a. Normally, the arms 28 of the bell cranks are in horizontal positions as shown in Fig. 2. However, when the rod 25 is retracted by its piston 24, the arms 28 are swung upwardly on their pivots as shown by the arrows 29. Although the arms 28 normally lie below the ways 3 and 23, the rollers forming these ways are arranged in rows so as to provide spaces through ing way 23 by the belt conveyors 21 and 22 and are arranged by the operator on either side of the trough 20. That is, the operator places one of the gatherings on the rolling way 3 adjacent one side of trough 20, and places the other gathering on the rolling way 23 adjacent the other side of the trough, with the concave surfaces of the gatherings facing upwardly. The operator then starts the joining and turning operation by actuation of a suitable control mechanism (not shown) which operates the piss ton 24 to raise the arms 28 to their vertical positions shown. in broken lines in Fig. 2. As the arms 28 are thus raised to their vertical positions as indicated by the arrows 29, the gatherings are picked up by the arms and slide on the arms down into the trough 20.

At this point, the gatherings or sheets in the trough 20 are now evened by means of a vibrator 35 attached to the underside of the trough and which is started by the opera.- tor, as through a pedal or other suitable control element (not shown). As the vibrator 35 may be of any conventional construction, its details are not shown. The trough 20 is inclined to the horizontal in its longitudinal direc. tion (Fig. 3) and is provided at its lower end with a stop 36. Accordingly, the vibration of the trough by the vibrator 35 causes the sheets or gatherings in the trough .to seat against the bottom of the trough and also toslide .ing operation, the piston 24 is again operated to raise its rod 25 further to its extreme upward position. As. a result, the arms 28 are swung inwardly toward each other to'the inclined positions shown in broken. lines in Fig. '2, where the free ends of the arms clamp the two aligned gatherings together in a vertical position, as indicated by which deliver the gatherings to a rolling way 23 at the 7 level as the way 3. An operator stands directly in the broken lines in Fig. 2. Thereupon, the piston 30 is started in operation, with the result that the trough 20 with its arms 28 and the gatherings or sheets clamped between these arms are swung about the pivot 31a in the direction of the arrow 32', until thelefthand arm 28 a:- sumes the horizontal position shoyvninfulllines in Fig; 2.

When the trough 20 has been swung to this position by piston 30, the piston 24 is operated to move the rod 25 out of its cylinder. That is, the piston rod 25 is now moved relative to its cylinder in the. direction opposite to that in which the rod was moved to actuate the arms 28 to the raised positions shown by the broken lines in Fig. 2. As a result, the arms 28 are moved away from each other to their starting positions wherein they extend at approximately right angles to the sides of the trough 20, so that the two gatherings or sheets are left in superimposed relation on the rolling way 3, with the concave surfaces of the sheets facing each other. Also, the piston 30 is operated to swing the trough 20 downwardly about its pivot 31a, until it returns to its starting position shown in Fig. 2.

The operator then moves the pair of superimposed gatherings to the left (Fig. 1) along the way 3, so that this pair is out of reach of the adjacent arm 28. The joining and turning operation is then repeated until the desired number of pairs of sheets is arranged on the rolling way 3, as shown in Fig. l. Thereupon, the operator starts the piston 9 and at the same time operates the pistons and 12 to raise the stop 11 and lower the stop 13. As the carriage 2 is advanced to the left (Fig. l) by the piston 9, the raised stop 11 engages the adjacent pair of gatherings 7 and thus moves all of the pairs of gatherings along the Way 3 and on to the carriage fork 4. If a binding sheet 14 is required, it is preferably applied before'the piston 9 is operated to advance the carriage. When the carriage 2 reaches its fully advanced position, the carriage fork 4 overlies the stack 3 and supports the pairs of gatherings 7 which have been transferred from the rolling way 3. At this point, the piston 12 is operated to raise the stop 13, and the piston 9 is reversed to retra'ct the carriage 2, whereby the stop 13 is engaged by the adjacent pair of gatherings 7 on the fork 4 and causes the gatherings to slide off the retracting fork and on to the top of the underlying pile 8. Upon return of the carriage 2 to its retracted position by piston 9, the stack support 5 is lowered a distance corresponding to the thickness of the new series of gatherings placed on top of the stack. As previously mentioned, this lowering of the stack support 5 is effected by operation of piston b, either manually or automatically under control of the feeler 16. The machine is now ready for re-loading of the way 3 by the joining and turning operations previous ly described in connection with the trough it being understood that the stop 11 may be held in its lowered position by its piston 10 during each loading of the way 3 and then raised by its piston 10 just prior to the advance movement of carriage 2 by its piston 9.

in some instances, it may be desirable that the upper gathering 7 of each pair, when loaded on the way 3, have a slight overhang with respect to the underlying gathering, in order to facilitate subsequent operations on the final stack of gatherings. In such cases, the desired overhang may be provided through proper shaping of the stop 36 in the trough 20.

As shown in Fig. 1, the carriage 2 is movable horizontally on rails 11a which may be raised or lowered by means of a piston 37 mounted on the floor 17. The rails 11a, as well as the carriage-operating piston 9, are supported on the rod 37a of piston 37. With this arrangement, it is not necessary to provide the stop 11, and the stop 13 can be maintained permanently in its raised position. In this case, the working cycle is as follows:

Upon completion of the loading of the pairs of gatherings 7 on the rolling way 3, through the previously described operation of trough 20, the piston 37 is operated to raise the rails 11a and the carriage 2, so that the carriage fork 4 lifts the gatherings 7 from the rolling Way 3. Thereupon, thepiston 9 is operated to move the gatherings on the carriage fork 4 over the pile 8, whereupon the piston 37 is operated tolower the rails 1--1a so that the carriage fork is lowered on the pile 8. Then, the piston 9 is operated to retract the carriage 2, so that the stop 13 displaces the gatherings from the carriage fork 4 on to the top of the pile 8. It will be understood that instead of mounting the piston 37 on the floor 17, this piston may be mounted on the carriage 2 and arranged to raise and lower the fork 4 relative to the carriage.

As previously described, the operation of the machine involves the coordinated actuation of the various pistons 9, 10, 12, 15b, 19, 24 and 30 and the vibrator 35 (or the piston 37 in lieu of the pistons 10 and 12). The coordinated actuation of these working parts may be effected manually or, to a large extent, automatically. Automatic operation may be effected through suitable control means (not shown) such as switches and electromagnetic valves associated with the fluid supply lines leading to the various pistons.

The new machine requires no adjustments whatever for handling difierent sizes of sheets or gatherings. Without adjustments, the machine can handle sheets within very wide limits of size, such as sheets varying from 300 x 750 to 2500 x 3500 mm. This is a definite requirement for corrugated-board machines in which the sheet sizes vary considerably and in which change-overs from one size to another are effected frequently. As the machine can pile many gatherings in breadth at a time, it is possible to place binding sheets cross-wise on a series of adjacent sheets, which is necessary in case of very narrow sheets, in order that the completed pile may be sufiiciently stable. By eliminating the usual manual operations involved in stacking sheets of corrugated board, and the like, the new machine enables the stacking operations to be performed much more quickly and at considerably smaller expense. 1

I claim:

1. A machine for stacking sheets of material, which comprises sup-porting means on which at least two of the sheets are adapted to be loaded, a carriage movable from a retracted position to a sheet stacking position for transferring sheets on the supporting means to said stacking position, the carriage being adapted to support the sheets in said stacking position, mechanism for reciprocating the carriage between said positions, a trough adjacent the supporting means, means for inserting and holding a pair of sheets on edge in the trough, means for tilting the trough laterally to deposit the sheets therein on the supporting means in superimposed relation, and a stop engageable with at least one of said superimposed sheets on the carriage in its sheet stacking position for retaining the sheets against movement with the carriage from said last position.

2. A machine according to claim 1, in which said supporting means are a conveying way, the carriage havmg a stop engageable with at least one of the superimposed sheets on said way for moving the sheets along the way and onto the carriage during movement of the carriage to said stacking position.

3. A machine according to claim 1, comprising also a pivot adjacent said supporting means and on which the trough is adapted to swing relative to the supporting means, said actuating means being operable to swing the trough back and forth on said pivot.

4. A machine according to claim 1, in which said inserting and holding means include arms pivotally mounted on the trough at opposite sides thereof and adapted for sliding support of a sheet at each side of the trough; and means for swinging said arms upwardly on the trough to deposit said sheets on edge inrthe trough.

5. A machine according to claim 1, in which said inserting and holding means include arms pivotally mounted on the trough at opposite sides thereof and adapted for sliding support of a sheet at each side of the trough, and means for swinging said arms upwardly on the trough to deposit said sheets on edge in the trough, said swinging means including an actuator for swinging the arms between raised and lowered positions on the trough.

' References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,205,767 Lamb June 25, 2,397,720 Beane Apr. 2, 2,667,259 Parker Jan. 26, 2,686,603 Lawson Aug. 17, 2,769,558 Ehlers Nov. 6, 2,794,636 Eddison et al. June 4, 2,861,702 Mason Nov. 25, 

